Towards molecular diversity: dealkylation of tert-butyl amine in Ugi-type multicomponent reaction product establishes tert-butyl isocyanide as a useful convertible isonitrile.

With the development of a novel microwave-assisted one-pot tandem de-tert-butylation of tert-butyl amine in an Ugi-type multicomponent reaction product, tert-butyl isocyanide as a useful convertible isonitrile has been explored for the first time affording access to molecular diversity of pharmaceutically-important polycyclic N-fused imidazo-heterocycles.